RURALITY AND RURAL POVERTY; WHAT IT MEANS TO BE POOR. New Realities and New Choices For Tomorrow: A case study of two villages in Rwanda’s Northern Province

Submitted by :

Peter Mbabazi Mbabazize

University:

Nkumba University

E-mail :

mbabazimbabazize@yahoo.com

Supervisor's Name :

Year of award :

2014

Awards :

Doctorate of Philosophy in Development Economics

Summary of Thesis

This thesis focused on the nature and extent of persistent rural poverty in rural areas, and in particular to the ways in which rural residences may affect ones poverty status in Rwanda. The central theme of this study was to fully describe what rural poverty is, how rurality leads to extreme poverty and what it actually means to be poor especially when it comes to the eyes of the beholder; the poorest of the poor in the rural areas. It is these poorest of the poor who were the subject / unit of analysis in this study. Two villages in Rwanda’s Northern Province were selected as a case study. The study was mostly qualitative and much focus was put on a down to earth naturalistic inquiry ab...